Ex-tabloid chief spills on links to U.K.’s Cameron

By David Stringer -
Associated Press -
Friday, May 11, 2012

LONDON — Former hotshot editor Rebekah Brooks drew Prime Minister David Cameron closer into Britain’s tabloid phone hacking scandal Friday, saying he had offered her some support after the uproar over illegal journalistic practices forced her to quit.

In six hours of questioning, Brooks listed Christmas parties, private dinners and hotel lunches she shared with the country’s most powerful political leaders. She also acknowledged that she used her access to lobby the British government over a planned News Corp. takeover deal that would have netted Murdoch’s media empire a lucrative satellite broadcaster.

The 43-year-old, a former editor of two Murdoch tabloids — the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World — has twice been arrested and questioned by police about illegal eavesdropping and obstruction of justice. She has not been charged with any offense, but is currently on bail pending further investigations — so the inquiry lawyer did not question her directly about phone hacking allegations.

Known for her striking red curls and meteoric rise from junior employee to top editor at News of the World, Brooks said Cameron was a personal friend and a neighbor in the picturesque Cotswolds area of southern England.

After she quit in July due to the uproar over phone hacking, Brooks said she had received “indirect messages” of support — text messages sent by the aides of politicians, but relaying their personal thoughts — including from Cameron.

“I received some indirect messages from No. 10, No. 11, the Home Office and Foreign Office,” Brooks said, referring to Cameron, Treasury chief George Osborne and other leading Cabinet members.

She agreed with inquiry lawyer Robert Jay that a message from Cameron had told her to “keep your head up” and expressed regret that he could not offer more support publicly, because of the political pressure he was under over the hacking scandal.

The message was “along those lines, I don’t think they were the exact words,” Brooks said.

Brooks said she and Cameron would trade texts at least once a week, or twice a week during busier periods such as Britain’s 2010 national election.

“He would sign them off ‘DC,’” said Brooks, who showed composure and flashes of humor as she testified. “Occasionally he would sign them off LOL, ‘lots of love’, until I told him it meant ‘laugh out loud.’”

Brooks confirmed that she had discussed tabloid phone hacking with Cameron, including after toxic revelations that the News of the World had hacked murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s phone when she disappeared in 2002. The girl was later found dead.

Public revulsion over the hacking of Dowler’s phone led Murdoch to shut down the 168-year-old News of the World in July, and saw Cameron set up the ethics inquiry, led by Lord Justice Brian Leveson.

Cameron has previously acknowledged that he has known Brooks‘ husband Charlie for 30 years and that he had ridden on a retired police horse that had been loaned to Brooks.

She told the inquiry that Blair, his wife and advisers “were a constant presence in my life for many years” and said the ex-leader had also offered support when she quit. Blair was among the political heavyweights who attended her 40th birthday party, hosted at Murdoch’s home, she said.